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He added: “Yet again we see the impact of out-of-town complexes which have been the death knell for so many towns.

“In recent years, Stockton Hight Street has undergone £38 million worth of regeneration, is attracting new stores, and was crowned High Street of Year, 2016. This announcement flies in the face of this demonstrable upturn in our High Street’s fortunes, and I’ll be writing to the chief executive of M&S, to call on him to reconsider this decision.”

M&S still has large stores in Middlesbrough and Teesside Park, and has opened food halls on Cleveland Retail Park on the Trunk Road, Guisborough and Hartlepool.

Shocked shoppers have already reacted on The Gazette’s website and Facebook page.

One reader said: “Waste of space Stockton gave up years ago when we had Teesside Park, can’t for the life of me understand all that money wasted on the High Street.”

Helen Bean said: “Online shopping and massive retail parks taking over. Such a shame both for the high street and the staff losing their jobs, they must be gutted.”

Joanne Franklin wrote on Facebook: “Nothing good about this at all. M&S has been part of Stockton High Street for years, it brings a lot of shoppers into the town. Absolutely awful.”

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The Stockton store escaped closure when M&S announced eight stores were to go in January, after the Local Data Company had named the High Street branch as one of the most at risk of closing in 2016.

But M&S quashed rumours it was set to open another of its food halls in Yarm after the closure of the High Street Spar.

Darlington’s 107-year-old store also faces closure, but the retailer said it expects most staff to move to the new M&S food hall to open on the town’s new West Park development this summer.

The stores are among 14 which have been earmarked for closure in 2018 or 2019, but the retail giant has signalled that more closures are on the way over the next few years while it will also scale back plans to open more Simply Food stores.

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Andrew Crooks, head of region for North East at Marks & Spencer, said, “The decision to propose the closures of Darlington and Stockton was a difficult one and we will be speaking with all our colleagues individually about what is right for them.

“We remain committed to the community and customers can continue to shop with us at our nearby stores, including Teesside Park.”

In 2014, efforts to try and save Redcar's M&S store ended in defeat when its High Street store closed in September of that year.

A 76 year association with the seaside town's High Street led 11,000 people to sign a petition to keep it open.But M&S said at the time that changes to trading conditions meant it had to close in a decision it "didn't take lightly".

The retail chain also tried to ensure the 44 staff at that store were found roles in other stores.

Sacha Berendji, retail, operations and property director at Marks & Spencer said, “Closing stores isn’t easy but it is vital for the future of M&S.

“Where we have closed stores, we are seeing an encouraging number of customers moving to nearby stores and enjoying shopping with us in a better environment, which is why we’re continuing to transform our estate with pace.”